


Under The Sea

by shivadyne



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 16:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6159469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shivadyne/pseuds/shivadyne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I wonder what it’s like on land,” Tifa murmured, leaning down and staring into the surface of the water as if in thought. “Don’t you want to see everything the Planet has to offer, Cloud?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under The Sea

**Author's Note:**

> just a short thing i had lying around unfinished for the longest time. wasn't sure if the mention of hojo was a bit too much for a general rating so i went with teen+ to be safe.

Tifa swam out towards the entrance of her small home, a cave partially submerged underneath the water and far enough away that no humans ever bothered to find her. She pushed up onto the nearby sunbathing rock, strong arms easily pulling the heavier weight of her lower body onto its warm, smooth surface.

She collapsed onto it with a pleased sigh, stretching out like a cat as she examined her metallic red tail over her shoulder. It was long and lunate in shape, fanning out behind her with jagged, serpentine fins. It was so long, in fact, that the end of her tail was forced to hang over the edge of the rock, splashing sedately against the water. The water lapped at the tips of her fingers, still warm to the touch.

“Cloud? You around?” she called out sleepily, the sun’s warmth seeping underneath her skin. Her tail itched in the way that meant she would be shedding scales soon, but hopefully they would be easier to peel away dry rather than wet. Removing scales underwater was always undesirable. They were too slippery to get a proper grip on and she always ended up yanking them out roughly in frustration.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Cloud replied, voice so soft it was nearly washed away by the sounds of the seagulls nearby. Swimming over and biting back a tired yawn, he asked, “Were you exploring down below again?”

“Of course,” Tifa replied easily, teeth widening in a grin. It showed off her sharp teeth, but Cloud didn’t seem to notice or care. “Were you sleeping all day again?”

“Mm,” Cloud hummed in response, eyes already drifting shut again as he leaned against the rock. His blue-green tail, much smaller than Tifa’s, was gently slapping against the water to keep him afloat. His eyes snapped back open once he realized he was falling back asleep and he said, “Yeah, sorry. Been shedding.”

“You should’ve told me, Cloud,” Tifa scolded him, precariously leaning her torso over her perch to grab him by the waist and pull him up with her. He grunted when he smacked into her side, but allowed the manhandling with a sort of resigned air about him.

She ignored the irritated glare being shot in her direction, lightly pressing against the scales with the tips of her fingers and trying to wiggle a few, unsurprised by how easily they came off. Tifa pried a few loose, being extra careful not to yank at them too hard.

“You’re shedding,” Cloud informed her, ignoring the strange scraping sound as Tifa moved onto the loose scales near his waist. He was cautiously picking at a couple of the scales on her tail, pulling them away with his fingers.

“Quit being so gentle,” Tifa shot back, finished with prying the couple loose scales off of Cloud’s tail. She pushed his hands away, turned over, and began to pry off the scales on her own, carelessly pulling them free without a flinch or even the slightest hint of pain. “My scales are thicker than yours and when they grow in, it means shedding isn’t painful as long as I can get them dry enough that stuff won’t creep in the spaces between.”

“Mine hurt, wet or dry,” Cloud responded, a little glumly. “And they itch for days until I can get them loose.”

“Since you’ve shed, do you think you’ll be up for exploring with me tomorrow?” Tifa asked him, flopping over onto her side to gaze at him with curious eyes. Her tail splashed harshly at the water, dousing them in a nice spray of water.

Cloud relaxed as he was doused in water, never one to enjoy the feeling of dry skin after having been submerged within the sea for so long, but simply stared back at her with a narrow-eyed gaze. Eventually, he shrugged his shoulders and gave her a short, jerky nod.

Tifa smiled and he smiled back, a little nervously because the expression was not one that had been used much. Not lately, anyways. _It’s almost like when we were kids,_ he thought, a little wistful at the memory of their hideouts and that thrill for adventure, the drive to seek out the unknown and grab on with both hands so it couldn’t escape them.

“I wonder what it’s like on land,” Tifa murmured, leaning down and staring into the surface of the water as if in thought. “Don’t you want to see everything the Planet has to offer, Cloud? If it wasn’t for the shape of my tail, I could roam like the humans do with those strange limbs of theirs.”

Cloud, having already seen enough of humans for a lifetime, rubbed at the scarred junction between the skin of his hip and the smooth scales sliding downward as he thought of a man that wished to poke and prod at the mermen he’d found, beautifully inhuman creatures that he’d wanted to tear apart in front of him. If it hadn’t been for that other merman, Zack, he’d have never made it out alive.

“No,” Cloud said after a moment of thought. “I like things the way they are.”


End file.
